The Swink Chapters

A normal person thinks, “AI could probably help my business.” I started drawing an org chart.

Me at the top, as founder and director. Under me, a COO-style agent. Under that, Sales, Operations and Marketing. Not one chatbot. Departments, with work handed from one to the next.

I’m testing pieces of it with n8n and GoHighLevel. The questions are simple. Can this actually help run parts of a business? Can one agent hand work to another without dropping it? Can it do useful work instead of just producing text? And can it make things easier without creating a new mess somebody has to babysit?

I don’t know yet. It’s an experiment. I’ll write down what works and what doesn’t.

When a U.S. East Coast workday starts, it’s evening here in Zamboanga.

So sometimes I’m on the clock for American businesses while my family is living a completely normal evening around me. Some nights that feels strange. Most nights it’s just how it works.

Maricel and I are planning our future family home here in the Philippines. We have about 330 square meters under contract. There are two adjacent lots we want as well, but they aren’t ours until those contracts are signed, so I’m not counting them yet.

My priorities get practical fast. One story, with everything we need day to day on the main level. Proper grounding on every outlet. Conduit, so the wiring can be repaired or upgraded later without tearing into walls. A crawl space under the house you can actually get into. Drainage that can handle typhoon rain. A plan for humidity, termites and pests.

The rule I keep coming back to: don’t just build the thing. Think about what happens when something breaks ten years from now.

None of it is built. It’s drawings and decisions for now. I’ll write more as the plans become real. I thank God for the chance to work toward a home of our own.

Among my early photos from the Philippines is one from my first trip to the river. I’m standing in the water with a big grin on my face. Years later, it’s still one of my favorites.

Marriage, George and the life we have here were all still ahead of me. Looking at it takes me right back to those first days.

I’m grateful to God for guiding me into this life, and for moments I’m still happy to remember.

My first setup in the Philippines was a folding table, a laptop, a monitor, and equipment fitted wherever there was room. The office has changed quite a bit since then.

Then I ordered a couple of ten file boxes and started organizing. Now I’m checking whether they fit proper folders and deciding what needs a home next.

Work, gaming, TV, household storage. This one room has a lot of jobs. Getting it organized feels good.

Some things are worth writing down because one day you might want to remember them. That’s the whole rule for this page.

Some chapters will be long. Some will be a paragraph. Some days matter, and some days I reorganized the office. They all count.

My businesses have their own websites. They can do the selling. This one gets to be about the person.

So I rebuilt JeremySwink.com from scratch. The front page. The long version of how I got here. How I work. What’s on the bench. And this: a place to write things down.

There used to be a blog system behind this page. I deleted it. This is just a page now, and I add to it by hand. No blog software to feed. No publishing schedule. No strategy.

Some chapters will be about business. Some will be about the house, a motorcycle, dinner, or something George did. Some will exist only because something was funny and I wanted to remember it.

If you’re reading this years from now: hi. This is where it started.

Jeremy